Lady s hoop-skirt



U ITE STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN HOLMES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LADYS HOOP-SKIRT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,841, dated May 3, 1859'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HOLMES, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-Adjusting Netted Bishop Skirts, of which the following is a clear and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a perspective view of a full skirt, Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the top or bustle part of the skirt, Fig. 8, is a detached View showing the manner in which the inside expanding and supporting hoop is attached etc.

It has been a great desideratum with manufacturers of hooped skirts, to obtain a skirt which should possess the capability of supporting the dress in a graceful manner and at the same time be capable of retaining its graceful appearance for a long time. It has also been found that most of the hooped skirts heretofore used, have been objectionable from the great liability of the wearers getting their feet entangled in them while ascending or descending stairs, and getting in and out of carriages, &c. To obviate these and other objections which might be named, resort has been had to complicated devices, which, although serving in a manner the purpose for which they were designed, have nevertheless proved very annoying and expensive in practice, by reason of their great liability to get out of order.

Fig. 1, is a perspective view of the skirt which I have devised to obviate the foregoing objections, as well as a great number of others which might be named.

My skirt is or may be made of tape, twine, small cord, thread, &c. It is formed by netting, that is by tying the tape, thread, cord, twine, &c., by which the meshes are made in'such a way that they (the meshes) are not liable to slip or ravel out in case a mesh is broken. The mode of forming the.

The work is generally commenced at the top and proceeds thus: As the meshes are formed by tying or netting the twine, cords &c. they are either increased in size or number on the back of the skirt, as fully shown at c, c, 0, while the meshes on the front part of the skirt are not much increased either in size or number. See (Z, d, d, in the drawings. The effect of this mode of construction after the springs e, e, e, are inserted, is to throw all of the fullness of the skirt back, forming a uniform bishop shape, from top to the bottom, while the front of the skirt hangs perfectly straight, and always retaining this same graceful shape, never flattens down as is the case will all others.

A skirt constructed after my plan has this additional advantage over most if not all other hooped skirts, viz: the network affords an even and perfect support to the hoops all around the skirt, while at the same time the weight of the hoops upon the network keeps the dress from falling or hanging in between the hoops, a result which, whenever it occurs destroys the graceful hang of the dress. In those seasons of the year when very light and thin dresses are much worn, this objection is most apparent, and I feel confident that by my invention it will be entirely obviated. To give the bishop still more fullness, and stability, without materially increasing the weight of the skirt or cost of construction, I add a bustle supporter E, which is a round spring attached to the rear portion of the skirt at f, as seen in the drawings so as to occupy a horizontal position.

To the front of the bustle supporter E,

is attached the compressing tape or band 9, which has an eye it, so that when the skirt is to be worn, the eye h, is drawn toward and hooked into the hook 2'. In this way the bustle supporter is made to assume the form shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8, and in full lines in Fig. 1.

As the front of the spring E, rests against the back of the person, the tendency of the spring is to force the skirt back, and thus add to the fullness and grace of the dress while the compressing tape g, holds the supporter spring E, in place and at the same time keeps it in such form and position as to make it fit the wearer in an easy and graceful manner.

So perfect is the plan which I have devised for forming the bustle part of the skirt, that the lower part of the skirt may even be left off, as shown in Fig. 2, and yet the dress made to hang very neatly.

It Will be seen that in the use of my netted skirt, there is no danger of the feet of the wearer being entangled by getting between the meshes, nor of there being any liability of mortifying accidents resulting from the breaking of one of the meshes, since the meshes cannot slip, having been formed by the tying of knots, and When broken never ravel. Netted skirts have also this advantage, that in case the skirt is too long, it can be out off to the proper or any desired length, Without the least injury to the ap pearance of the skirt, and that, too, Without the necessity of a hem at the bottom.

Having described my self-adj usting netted skirt, What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. Constructing a skirt of knotted or network and this I claim Whether the meshes on the front and back of the skirt are alike or not.

2. Enlarging the rear upper portion of a skirt, formed by a series of meshes, to form the bishop shape, by increasing the relative size or number of meshes on the rear upper portion thereof, as compared With those in the same course on the front of the skirt, substantially as described.

3. The horizontal bustle supporting spring 

